I started a community a couple of weeks ago and it seems to be really doing well so far. I know alot about building websites, but I've never tried to monetize one. At what point do I monetize a forum without scaring away potential members Is it when I'm averaging a certain amount of page views for a certain amount of time? TIA.
Start by sending newsletter style mass pm's to your membership. Offer content related to that forums niche and include affiliate links to like content products.
I've never really looked at building a website, getting it advertised for traffic gain and then monetize it. I prefer to just build the website, monetize it and then get the traffic. This way you are not throwing any surprises at your users as the ads are already there when they join.